There’s an inevitable slowdown in riding and bike commuting when Winter’s temperature dips combine with precipitation to make for miserable conditions. Sleet, snow, fog, wind, light slanty rain, heavy downpours – they can all make biking feel like not as much fun.

It doesn’t have to be like that. We can all #keepriding if we want to, and with a true minimum of misery.

In fact, winter offers some of the best biking therapy around. If you have the right gear – and by this we mean stuff you already own combined with just a few special technical clothing options – you can be comfortably dry and securely warm through most any weather conditions.

And if you are dry and you are warm, biking can be a great way to get your thoughts in order for your day ahead. Or, clear out the cobwebs and get a little work out on the way home. Far more than driving in a car or riding on public transport, biking is a magic combo of steady physical exertion needed for good ideas to pop up, heads to get free of nagging worries, and perspectives to be powerfully shifted.

The first step to be able to #keepriding in any kind of inclement weather conditions is assessing what you’ve already got and deciding what clothing or bike accessories you might need.

In the just-released, Nutcase-sponsored video clip above, cycling culturist Ayleen Crotty and our own cycle-style superperson Meghan Sinnott interviewed Jonathan Maus of BikePortland.org. The first in a series, this clip combines a little bit of chat about winter biking, a wealth of tips from Maus, and a lovely lineup of Maus’ outfits that are suitable for biking and go-directly-to-work situations.

Here is a quick list of the products mentioned in the video, just in case they flicker by all too fast:
– Levi’s commuter jeans
– Banana Republic slacks
– Keen boots
– Ecco waterproof high-top dress shoes
– Endura and Showers Pass gloves
– Rapha plum jacket
– Showers Pass hoodie rain jacket
– Nau wool heavy coat and grey blazer riding jacket
– Portland Design Works pom-pom beanie cap
– Smartwool blue/grey striped beanie
– Icebreaker blue polo shirt
– Banana Republic wool orange v-neck sweater
– Black Diamond mitts
– Icebreaker merino wool base layer “tights” and red scarf

#KeepRiding is not just a video. At co-sponsor ORbike’s web site, the sharing has already begun, and that’s great. Seeing how other people use what they’ve got and what they’ve bought to #keepriding is a great motivator as well as inspiring proof that weather doesn’t need to be a damper on riding – if we want.

Show us how you do it – and don’t forget the Nutcase helmet ear pads.